Servicing

Bank of America's residential mortgage division posted a net profit of $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter, but for the full year the unit bled almost $8.2 billion of red ink, according to earnings figures released Thursday morning.

Mitt Romney has been a key figure in the saga of the nation's financial woes, perhaps more important than any other Republican politician. But much of what he did and said in the early stages of the crisis, including about housing, has been largely forgotten.

Speculation continues to run rampant from analysts and mortgage servicers about what might lie ahead in 2012 for bank owned properties. But one area that is critical to any improvement in the housing market is the economy, specifically the unemployment rate.

As the housing market is still plagued with uncertainty about whether distressed conditions will continue to be seen nationwide, one trade association says the blame for the state of the industry should not be placed against appraisers.

Insurance companies have become more sophisticated in the face of the housing crisis, hiring teams specifically to investigate and adjust hazard claims filed by the mortgage servicers. This has resulted in an increase in hazard denials.

The mortgage banking division of PNC Financial Services lost $61 million in the fourth quarter due to what the bank called “foreclosure-related expenses primarily as a result of ongoing governmental matters.”

Remember the first time you were introduced to the concept that the law, as discussed theoretically in law school, was not necessarily the law as it played out in reality? Please allow me to provide yet another example of what happens when the cost/benefit analysis of defending what is obvious under the law weighs heavily in favor of tossing hundreds of years of property law out the window.

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman's office will fund $1 million in foreclosure prevention services to assist state homeowners who are struggling through the foreclosure crisis.

Due to the increasing complexities surrounding the foreclosure process, Nationwide REO Brokers has expanded its services by offering third-party foreclosure review and certification for lenders and servicers.

Asset Revitalization Solutions, an Austin, Texas-based company that specializes in distressed asset investments and management, acquired $10 million in distressed loans in Florida.